“It boils down to story, script and filmmaker,” Johnny Depp said back in the halcyon days of early May in the run up to the release of "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." “It’s not something where I would say, ‘Let’s shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012. We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they are special to me.” But it's amazing what $1 billion dollars can do.

“It boils down to story, script and filmmaker,” Johnny Depp said back in the halcyon days of early May in the run up to the release of "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides." “It’s not something where I would say, ‘Let’s shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012. We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they are special to me.” But it's amazing what $1 billion dollars can do.

While Depp pretended to be a holdout due to the phantom integrity of the franchise or something, let's face it, "Pirates 5" is only a matter of time. Terry Rossio was hired to pen the screenplay at the beginning of the year, and with 'Stranger Tides' now joining the billion dollar club it's all just a matter of Disney execs carving out a space on the calendar to get everyone back together for another stab at 'Pirates' booty. And now The Wrap reports the Depp, the once cagey, semi-holdout, is close to inking a deal once again wear that very, very lucrative eyeliner.

The real meat and potatoes of the 'Stranger Tides' haul has come from overseas. When the film opened, it scored the biggest global debut of all time and indeed, three quarters of its international take has come from abroad. 'Stranger Tides' is now Depp's third billion dollar movie, the third largest international film ever and Disney's biggest international movie all time. Who needs a good script, right?

No word yet on if Rob Marshall will return -- some new blood, likely a studio wishlist, was recently rumored -- but as with everything, it will come down to what Depp wants and he can pretty much call the shots with the franchise at this point.

So get ready universe! Another soggy, unnecessary, middling and yet bafflingly successful 'Pirates' movie is going to be on the way -- and you asked for it. More info likely to come at the D23 expo in August.